March 31, 2013

Tough times for magazines

THINGS SEEM
TO BE RATHER TOUGH for yachting magazines these days. I’ve noticed a couple of
them lately that have been begging for help from their readers. They’re
conducting “surveys” in which they ask people what articles they would like to
see more of, what different things they might like to see emphasized, what
changes would induce them to like the magazine more, and so on.

I hate to
see these surveys. They are nothing more than disguised pleas for help. Long
experience has taught me that there is no point in asking people what they want.
It all evens out in the end and comes to nothing. Some will say this, some will
say that, some will have no opinion — and the worst part is that the magazine
owners are pleading for help from people who already read their publications,
not the people who don’t — the latter being the ones they’re supposed to
attract. They’re preaching to the converted, not to the great unwashed hoi
polloi with money to spend on magazines.

Every time
I see one of these surveys I’m reminded of what the 19th-century French
politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin is reputed to have said:“There go the people. I must follow them, for
I am their leader.”

A knowing
editor doesn’t ask people what to put in the magazine.He or she tells them what they need, offers
it up, and refuses to go down on his knees to get them to read itIt was Harold Evans, a famous editor himself,
said some of the attributes of a good editor were keenness, conscientiousness,
and ruthlessness — rightly used. You may notice that these, possibly not
coincidentally, are also the attributes of a good skipper.

In the same
way that a good skipper does not seek democratic opinion on a boat, a good
editor should never be wishy-washy. Most of us are pretty wishy-washy already,
even-handed and ready to listen to a reasoned argument from the opposition. But
deep down, being pack animals at heart, what
we really crave is a firm leader, a despotic leader if necessary, a benevolent
dictator.We’ll always follow a
charismatic leader who exhibits a definite direction, so we don’t have to guess
where we’re going or how we’re going to get there.

Democracy
is by definition wishy-washy and at odds with nature, which demands the
survival of the fittest by any means.Democracy is also full of compromises and concessions to the weak of
mind and muscle. It’s the domination of the household by the nursery. That’s
why we have such trouble getting any political work done in America.Our so called leaders are being too nice to
the bunch of gun-toting nasties they’re trying to govern.

A good
editor needs to be a “character” and to have strongly felt opinions (based on
thorough knowledge, both practical and theoretical) and not be shy about
espousing them.

Tom Day,
former editor of The Rudder, was a
good example. He was outspoken, pragmatic, and firm of opinion. He admitted he
could be wrong — but that wouldn’t necessarily change his mind. He wasn’t
scared of offending people — and he turned The
Rudder into one of the most successful sailing magazines this country has
ever known.

If you were
starting a new magazine or trying to prop up an ailing one, what would you need
to think about? Two things spring to mind.

1. What
vacant niche are you trying to fill? What audience are you aiming at?What kind of boater? You can’t interest them all.
You have to make choices right from the beginning, and stick to your guns.What niche do you want to compete in? DIY?
Sailboats? Flashy big new ones, or small shabby old ones? Powerboats? River
boats? Fishing boats? Or any of a dozen other categories.You should become the expert in this restricted
field.

2. What is your advertising policy? The
editorial niche you’re trying to fill will, to a large extent, determine what
kind of advertisements you can attract. Will you lure advertisers with promises
of editorial write-ups? Or will you treat advertising and editorial as
completely separate entities? There are serious ethics involved here, and too
manymagazines ignore them. But I have
always believed that intelligent readers know when they’re being conned with
effusive, over-enthusiastic editorial tied to paid advertising.

There is
lots more I could say on this subject, but let us dwell a moment on this final
thought: Did the author of the Ten Commandments ever conduct a survey to
establish what the people wanted?And in
this same vein it is well to remember that the Pope, unchallenged leader of a
billion Catholics, never pretends to espouse democracy. He’d probably make a good editor.

Today’s Thought

Democracy substitutes election by the
incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.

— George
Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutions

Tailpiece

“Did you
hear about Bob’s terrible operation?”

“No, what
happened?”

“His father
cut off his allowance.”

(Drop by
every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)

Funny you should post this just now. My husband and I were just talking last night about the fact that Cruising World was now about 40% ads and they were ads that don't apply to us so we're going to let it lapse at the next subscription. My favorite magazine? Good Old Boat. Very pertinent articles to my particular niche and only applicable ads. I fear for it, though, because one of my very favorite magazines used to be Living Aboard, and we all know what happened when it got picked up by a corporate conglomerate with no real ties to the reader...